A man believed to be a member of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said on Monday.
He was accused of procuring parts for drones believed to be used in attacks on Israel.
What else is known about the suspected Hezbollah members?
Prosecutors said a Lebanese man, identified only as Fadel Z. in accordance with German privacy laws, was detained on Sunday in the town of Salzgitter in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony.
In a statement, federal prosecutors said the suspect was “highly suspected of being a member of a foreign terrorist organization.”
The man was accused of procuring “components for the assembly of drones, in particular engines,” which were “destined to be exported to Lebanon and used in terror attacks against Israel.”
Prosecutors said the man was suspected of joining Hezbollah “no later than the summer of 2016.”
Hezbollah banned in Germany
Germany classifies Hezbollah as a “Shiite (Islamic) terrorist organisation” and banned it from operating on German territory in 2020.
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, and the EU has designated its militant wing a terrorist group.
The militant group controls Shiite-majority areas of the capital Beirut as well as parts of southern and eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s political wing is one of the main parties in the country’s governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Hezbollah is allied with the Hamas militant group, which is fighting Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
The war between Hamas and Israel began on October 7, when the militant group launched attacks in southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages, according to Israeli statistics. The next day, Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel, and the two sides have been exchanging regular artillery fire since then.
International leaders have expressed concern that hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel could spark a broader regional conflict.
sdi/ab (AFP, dpa)